Lagos has been named among the fastest-growing tier-two metro markets reshaping the global colocation landscape, according to new data released by Synergy Research Group.
Synergy’s report tracks quarterly revenues for over 300 colocation companies across 59 countries and 91 metro areas, covering both retail and wholesale segments. Dominant global colocation firms include Equinix, Digital Realty, NTT, China Telecom, CyrusOne, GDS, KDDI, and Chindata.
The report, released on August 7, 2025, shows that ten metropolitan areas account for 41 percent of the global colocation market, which includes both retail and wholesale segments.
Northern Virginia remains the single largest market globally, contributing seven percent of total colocation revenue; followed by Beijing, Shanghai, and London, each accounting for around five percent while Tokyo and New York follow closely at around four percent each.
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However, Synergy notes that the global colocation market is undergoing a structural shift. While these ten top-tier markets remain dominant, it is the next sixty metro areas that are seeing the fastest growth and driving the future of colocation demand.
The metros ranked 11–40 grew by an average of 12 percent over the past year, while the next tier, ranked 41–70, grew by a more rapid 17 percent on average. Lagos is prominently featured in this third tier and is named among its growth leaders: Austin, Quincy, San Antonio, Warsaw, and Dubai.
“While the top ten have grown by an average eight percent, no less than 17 tier-two metros have grown by 20 percent or more. This is a clear indication of how the market will evolve over the coming years, with rapidly developing markets becoming ever more important,” said John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group.
Among the 11–40 tier, the fastest-growing metros include Johor, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Portland, Jakarta, and Mumbai. These cities are not only growing faster than the established hubs but also attracting increasing colocation investment as demand for low-latency infrastructure and localised cloud services rises.
Lagos’ inclusion in this high-growth category reflects a growing trend in EMEA and APAC regions, where emerging economies are catching up with legacy colocation hubs. While proximity to customers and business clusters continues to drive infrastructure development, Synergy’s findings highlight that new economic centres are increasingly shaping the data centre map.
Synergy’s report is based on in-depth quarterly tracking of colocation markets across more than 300 companies, covering 59 countries and 91 metro markets worldwide. The analysis includes both retail colocation services (typically used by enterprises and SMEs) and wholesale colocation (targeting cloud and hyperscale operators).
On a global level, the leading colocation providers remain Equinix, Digital Realty, NTT, China Telecom, CyrusOne, GDS, KDDI, and Chindata. These firms dominate key metros, but are increasingly expanding into emerging markets to capture new demand.
Currently, the top 10 metros account for 41 percent of global colocation revenue, while the next 60 metros contribute 39 percent bringing the combined share of the top 70 markets to 80 percent. The remaining 20 percent is spread across smaller and less mature markets.
“Proximity to customers remains a key driver of the colocation market. Data centres tend to be located in metros that have a large concentration of companies and economic activity. Consequently, the markets in the top 10 have not changed since Synergy published a similar analysis a year ago, though there has been some movement in the ranking, with Shanghai leapfrogging London,” Dinsdale added.
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The report signals a major evolution in global data infrastructure, with cities like Lagos, Johannesburg, and Mumbai now playing increasingly strategic roles in the global digital economy. For Nigeria, Lagos’ recognition in the global ranking validates the city’s growing importance as a regional technology and connectivity hub.
Malam Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), emphasized Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional tech infrastructure hub by scaling local data hosting. “Our goal is to build an ecosystem where both local data centre providers can scale, and global hyper-scalers see Nigeria as a viable investment destination,” he said, pointing to both sovereignty and investment goals.
